"Really?"
On the other end of the headset, the girl nearly jumped with excitement. Several seconds passed before she remembered she was still in danger, quickly covering her mouth.
"We're on our way, Corin! Stay safe!"
Though Ellen's expression remained calm, her actions betrayed her urgency. She swiftly helped Phaga pack up the computer and shoved the sun umbrella into his arms.
Phaga memorized the locations of the spatial rifts along the path. As soon as they were done packing, he rushed ahead to lead the way.
As they ran, Corin's voice came through the earpiece.
"Did the military send troops to hunt down the Dead End Butcher? I've heard trains pass by me several times already."
Trains? Several times?
Phaga tugged down his bowler hat to block the sun, frowning. "Not the military. Today is when Vision Industry is blowing up Canvas Street with planted explosives."
"Ah, so the trains are carrying Ether explosives? That many?" Corin gasped.
Phaga clenched his teeth in thought. "Before we entered the Hollow, I saw that shorty Perlman on the news saying Vision Industry only needed one more trainload of explosives."
Perlman—the head of Vision Industry.
"So Corin heard the same train?"
Ellen analyzed calmly, "There's another group in the Hollow. They're making the train circle!"
Phaga grinned as he vaulted over the last spatial fissure. "Whatever the case, we should thank them for buying us time!"
Victoria Housekeeping had just accepted a fourteen-million-Dennies commission. So far, only Vision Industry might provide clues.
If someone was tripping up Vision Industry and stalling for time, that was a huge favor to them.
They were close now—so close to Corin's location!
At most one block away. Two minutes—no, if they pushed harder, a minute and a half!
Phaga narrowed his eyes, already imagining what this unseen teammate looked like.
Judging by her voice, she must be a cute girl. Surely not some kind of voice scam...
Suddenly, Phaga's expression shifted sharply, his gaze instinctively turning toward his earpiece.
A muffled, unfamiliar voice seeped through, as if separated by a wall.
[If I were alone, I might be able to crawl over. But with the Bangboo, no way. And with all these sinkholes, detouring around isn't realistic.]
Phaga's eyelid twitched violently. His voice rose in urgency.
"Corin, don't respond!"
"Yes... understood. Mr. Phaga, I'll stay quiet."
Corin clearly panicked, but as a fellow member of Victoria Housekeeping, she chose to trust him.
Phaga bit down lightly on his lip, shedding his coat mid-run and tossing it away, the parasol flying off with it.
A dark shape suddenly shot toward Ellen, catching her off guard.
Huh? What the—?
Mmmph!
Ellen was moving too fast. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late to dodge. Phaga's coat slapped her in the face, followed by a thump to the head from the parasol.
Clack!
The parasol clattered to the ground.
Ellen staggered to a halt, her [Roaming Hunt] interrupted. She ripped the coat off her face and glared at Phaga's retreating figure, fuming.
But Phaga had already spread his wings—each spanning over ten feet. With a single fierce beat, he launched himself forward like a cannonball.
In moments, Ellen couldn't even see his shadow.
"Tsk, that guy!"
She stomped her foot angrily, cheeks flushed with frustration.
But remembering Phaga's desperation came from Corin's potential danger, Ellen let out a resigned sigh.
"Fine, I'll let you off this time."
She neatly folded Phaga's coat and held it to her chest, bent to grab the parasol and tucked it under her arm, then hefted her giant shears and resumed [Roaming Hunt] to chase after him.
...
"Hey, [Phaethon], haven't you ever run into something like this in your Proxy career?"
At the front of a train car, a black-furred Cat-Thiren girl, clad in armor-like gear, was frantically clawing at the carriage, trying to tear a hole through it.
The one she called [Phaethon], a Bangboo, waddled forward. Its two long floppy ears swayed with every step, limbs short and stubby like an oversized plush cushion.
But it was no pillow. The crimson scarf around its neck bore a glowing electronic screen, two vivid green circles blinking like lively eyes.
Eous—the Bangboo of all Bangboos, Phaethon's stand-in within the Hollow.
"Nekomata, no matter how famous Phaethon is, he's still a Proxy. Handling emergencies in the Hollow—that's the agent's job, isn't it?"
Suddenly, a girlish, teasing voice piped up from within Eous's soft body.
"Wha—?!"
Nekomata whipped her head around, glaring at Eous with puffed-up cheeks. But soon she slumped in defeat, sighing. "So even the great Phaethon can't do anything?"
"Take a detour!"
Eous's cute voice chimed in again.
"We already altered the tracks. The train will just keep circling here. We've got plenty of time before reaching the tunnel—"
"...Someone's coming! Fast!"
The girlish voice cut off. A sudden male voice shouted, so urgent it cracked.
Nekomata froze, her tail puffing up. "What? A person? At this time? What idiot would come into the Dead End Hollow? Oh, don't tell me it's that Carrot you sold earlier—ahhh!"
Before she could finish, the sky went dark.
She didn't even have time to look up before crushing wind pinned her in place.
Something was plummeting toward the ground at terrifying speed.
BOOM!
Phaga slammed into the ground, blasting a half-meter-deep crater.
The shockwave tore outward, whipping up a gale that blew both Eous and Nekomata clean off their feet.
"Meow! What the hell is that?! Proxy, do something, Proxy!"
Nekomata clung to Eous's ear with one hand and a utility pole with the other, her body flailing in the gale like a straw doll. She wailed and kicked in panic.
"I've never seen anything like this either!"
Eous cried out with a girlish squeal.
"No Ether reactivity. Not an Etherial. Calm down, both of you!"
This time, a steady male voice echoed from within Eous.
"Not an Etherial?" Nekomata blinked, stunned.
Moments later, the gale died down. Caught off guard, Nekomata faceplanted into the dirt.
But she ignored it, scrambling back up and rubbing her cheeks, desperate to see what had just landed.
Whatever it was, even the aftershock had been overwhelming!
Then, from behind a solitary utility pole, two small heads peeked out.
Eous and Nekomata stared toward the train car, determined to glimpse the newcomer.
And then they saw them—vast, dark crimson wings folding slowly. From within emerged a slightly slender figure.
He rose to his feet, wings drawing inward. Nekomata and Eous clearly saw him lift his arm, fingers curling like claws.
Clang!
He slashed at the carriage, instantly carving five gashes into its metal.
A girl's soft whimper echoed from inside.
"Don't be afraid."
Through the cracks, the man who had descended from the sky spoke gently to the girl inside.
The next instant, his hand thrust through the fissure, gripping the carriage's steel plating.
Boom!
With a single powerful tug, he ripped one side of the carriage apart.
Sunlight poured in, illuminating the tear-streaked face of the girl within.
"Mr. Phaga!"
The girl cried out his name in joy, bolting into the light and into his arms.
Phaga stiffened at first, then relaxed. His wings folded back, fading away.
He gently stroked the girl's head and whispered softly:
"Good girl, Corin."